‘The news that I just received is that the Chinese ambassador received satellite images of floating objects in the southern corridor and they will be sending ships to verify,’ he said.

‘Beijing is expected to make an announcement in a few hours.’

One of the objects was very large, measuring 22 metres (72ft) by 13 metres (98ft).

State broadcaster CCTV tweeted an image of the object and said it was captured around noon on Tuesday, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of another satellite image that was taken days earlier of two objects in the water.

Two military planes from China have arrived in Perth to help search a remote stretch of ocean about 1,550 miles to the south-west.

Australian, New Zealand and US planes were already involved, two Japanese planes will arrive on Sunday, and ships were in the area or on their way.

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, on an official visit to Papua New Guinea, said weather hampered the search earlier but conditions were improving.

‘There are aircraft and vessels from other nations that are joining this particular search because tenuous though it inevitably is, this is nevertheless the first credible evidence of anything that has happened to Flight MH370,’ Abbott said.

A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pilot joins the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 (Picture: EPA)